Early American Literature
“Beginnings” Review Worksheet
Early Settling
Who were the first undisputed inhabitants of the area which we now call America?
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How did these people get here?
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People from which continent had a major influence over the developing New World?
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Please describe three instances of influence of the above continent in the area which we now call
America.
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Puritanism
What is the definition of Puritanism?
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Where did the Puritans come from?
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Why did the Puritans leave their original home?
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What did the Puritans disagree with in their original home?
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How did the Puritans feel about the connection between themselves and God?
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Where did the Puritans first go when they left their original home?
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Why did they not stay there?
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Where did the Puritans eventually settle? _____________________________________________
In what year did they begin to settle here?
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What happened during the Puritans’ first year (specifically, first winter) in their new land?
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Which group of people helped the Puritans to adapt to their new home?
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The Puritans hoped to build a new society patterned after
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Puritan Beliefs and Values
Please describe the view the Puritans had of the human race.
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Puritans felt that all people were born ________________________________________________
Why did Puritans feel this way about people? Who did they attribute their attitudes about the
human race to?
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What two groups did people fall into, according to Puritan belief?
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Please describe each of these groups.
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Did a person know for sure if he or she was saved or not? _______________________________
How did a person determine if he or she was part of the saved group?
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What could a person do to create the appearance of being part of the saved group?
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Please name and explain at least four Puritan values.
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What did their values also allow them to be successful with?
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Which group did the Puritans believe should have great influence on the government?
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What was one of the effects of the type of government the Puritans had?
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How did the Puritan form of government help to cause this event?
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Attitudes about the Bible and Education
What did the Puritans believe about the Bible?
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How did the Puritans feel about reading the Bible?
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What was the Puritans’ attitude toward education?
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Which college was originally founded to train Puritan ministers? ___________________________
What two other forms of literature were especially important to Puritans?
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Why were these other two forms of literature important to Puritans?
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Characteristics of Puritan Writing
Which piece of literature served as the ideal model for Puritan writing? _____________________
Puritans saw connections between Biblical events and what? _____________________________
Puritans used writing to explore their inner and outer lives for signs of
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What type of writing style did Puritans prefer? What did this form of writing stress and what did it
avoid?
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Rationalism
Please define the belief of rationalism.
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How did Rationalists see the role of God? How did this differ from how the Puritans envisioned
God’s role?
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According to Rationalists, what was God’s gift to humanity?
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What did this gift enable people to do?
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Because of their beliefs, how much control did Rationalists believe people had over the course of
their own lives?
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How is this similar or different to the degree of control Puritans believed people had over their
own lives? Please explain.
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Deism
Rationalists also believed in a philosophy called Deism. Please describe the outlook and beliefs of
Deism.
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When and to whom did Deists believe God made himself available?
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How was this similar or different to the Puritan concept of God’s availability to people?
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Describe Deists in regard to which religious group or groups they came from.
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What kind of principles did Deists seek?
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What did Deists believe about the order of the universe?
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How is the Deist belief about the order of the universe similar or different from the Puritan belief
about the order of the Universe? Please explain.
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Deists believed in the __________________________ of every individual through the use of
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Deists believed that God’s objective was ______________________________________________
In the Deist philosophy, the best form of worship was ___________________________________